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Jellybean

I started this blog as a way to vent, keep family and friends updated, and as a form of therapy to get through some rough spots in my life. It somehow turned into a cooking blog...complete with my rambling and ranting! Cooking, along with posting recipes, stories and pictures makes me happy so I hope you enjoy reading my posts and find a recipe or two to try!

Quotable Quote!

The weakness of a soul is proportionate to the number of truths that must be kept from it

~Eric Hoffer

Ultimately we have just one moral duty:to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves,more and more peace,and to reflect it towards others.And the more peace there is in us,the more peace there will also be in our troubled world

Caprese Salad with Balsamic Reduction

I made this version with cherry tomatoes, so I decided to cut the mozzarella into bite-sized pieces and toss everything together in a bowl. Delicious and everything is distributed evenly.

But...

You can also use larger tomatoes, and layer tomato slices with slices of mozzarella and leaves of basil, and then drizzle the balsamic reduction over the top. This makes for a prettier presentation, since the cheese likes to soak up the balsamic and turn a little brown.

See?

Either way, this is wonderful and super easy.

I could just eat the balsamic reduction by the spoonful.

Here is the recipe:

Caprese Salad with Balsamic Reduction (serves 8 as an appetizer)

2 lbs ripe cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 lb fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed

1/4 cup of basil, chiffonaded

1 cup of balsamic vinegar

For balsamic reduction:
Put vinegar in a small saucepan over medium heat, simmer until reduced by about half. The mixture will continue to thicken as it cools...if it gets too thick, stir in a tablespoon of warm water.

Combine tomatoes, cheese and basil in a bowl. Pour cooled balsamic reduction over and toss to combine. Enjoy!